Melbourne artist updates coins to reflect modern ‘Straylian life

Melbourne artist Aaron Tyler has completed what he first began in October last year with Straya Cash, giving Australian coins an ironic overhaul.

Like Mr Tyler’s Straya Cash, which saw Australian notes incorporating symbols of modern life, “Straya Shrapnel” stamps our coin currency with the profiles of everything from Australian band AC/DC to convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby, to the ever classy goon sack.

“Due to the overwhelming response to Straya Cash, and the raft of modern day Aussie icons that couldn't quite muscle their way onto the notes, I thought it only fitting to design a special set of commemorative coins for Australia Day,” Mr Tyler wrote on his website.

Mr Tyler’s tongue-in-cheek reinvention of Australian notes made headlines last year, just days after he first posted them to his website.

"Those faces [on the notes] were relevant once, but they don't strike a chord with modern Australia. The time is right for a facelift," he wrote at the time.

My Tyler’s new Straya Shrapnel designs include everything from the lowly five cents to one “dolla” and two “bucks”.

Check out which heroes and hoots, classic grub and cringe-worthy memes made the cut.

In the place of the echidna, Aussie hard rock band AC/DC. AKA “Acadacaaaa!” (Aaron Tyler) ()Stuff the Queen - we want Toni Colette. While Colette has gone on to find fame abroad, she will always be fondly remembered for her starring role in classic Aussie film Muriel’s Wedding. (Aaron Tyler) ()The male superb lyrebird has way too much gristle. Can we have some dimmies instead? Or was that hot cross buns? (Aaron Tyler) ()Queen Elizabeth II gets the kick again for an iconic meme featuring one very tanked motorist with a case of denial. (Aaron Tyler) ()Australia’s one-and-only beaked marsupial, the platypus, can’t hold a candle to Australia’s best source of alcoholic vinegar, the goon sack. (Aaron Tyler) ()Nup, the Queen isn’t getting any love today. Replaced this time with Russell Coight, survival and wildlife “expert”. (Aaron Tyler) ()Comedians Hamish and Andy flank the coat of arms in the place of the ‘roo and emu. (Aaron Tyler) ()The relic of our monarchist past is banished one more in favour of Schapelle Corby. Although we’re not quite sure whether this one is funny or just plain cruel. (Aaron Tyler) ()A procession of kangaroos is replaced by a procession of V8s, headed by champion driver Pete Brock. (Aaron Tyler) ()From Fat Pizza to Pitch Perfect, comedian Rebel Wilson has come a long way. (Aaron Tyler) ()A bare-chested Australian Aborigine is swapped out with former Indigenous AFL player Adam Goodes, staring stoically into the distance. (Aaron Tyler) ()Tasmanian cricketer David Boon “Boonie”. (Aaron Tyler) ()

Reverential or ridiculous? Is this the kind of shrapnel you&rsquo;d be willing to carry around?